Highs and Lows
by EstelRaca
Summary: Trucy decides that the Wright Anything Agency should go to an amusement park. Things are going well until the roller coaster they're on breaks, leaving them stranded high above the ground. Athena/Apollo, written for DawnsEternalLight for the Ace Attorney mini-exchange.


_Highs and Lows_

"Why are we here?"

Apollo glares up at the arching gates of the amusement park, knowing that he's glowering and unable to really help it.

"This is a group bonding experience, Apollo." Phoenix's hand pats gently at Apollo's back—two months ago it would have been a firm slap, but everyone has treated him gently since the courtroom bombing (since Clay's death). "It'll be fun."

Apollo turns his glower on his boss. "If Trucy wanted to go to the amusement park, you could have just taken her yourself."

"He _could_ have." Trucy bounces back from the ticket booth, grabbing Apollo's arm and tugging him toward the entryway. "But since what I wanted was for _all_ of us to come, that wouldn't really have fit the bill."

"Come on, 'Pollo." Athena takes his other arm, the two women propelling him far too quickly toward the entrance. "It'll be fun! Plus the boss paid for it, so it's kind of like a paid vacation, yeah?"

"Yeah." Apollo relaxes a little bit, some of his nerves fading away in the face of Trucy and Athena's excitement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

It has been six months, two weeks, and four days since Apollo was last at an amusement park—last at _this_ amusement park, and the person with him then was someone who will never get to enjoy the coasters or the other rides again. That isn't the park's fault, though, and it's not Trucy's fault, and it's not Athena's fault, and Apollo decides he's going to do everything in his power to let Clay's ghost rest comfortably and just _enjoy_ the day to come.

Trucy stops dead as soon as they're inside the park, her eyes wide with wonder as she stares around. "This is _amazing_. Polly, isn't this amazing?"

Athena grins across Apollo's body at the girl currently shaking Apollo's arm up and down in her excitement. "First time at an amusement park?"

Trucy shakes her head. "I've been to one before, but it was kind of small. Plus we went on the Ferris wheel first, and Daddy just about died, so we didn't do many rides after that."

Apollo glances at his boss. Even he and Clay had been to the amusement park a few times, saving up for months when they were young. And when they were in college. And basically any time that _wasn't_ the last three years, when they were both actually gainfully employed. "What did you guys do for fun, then?"

Trucy spins around, lifting one hand and counting off fingers. "I've been to lots of plays. And operas. And musicals. And museums. And all over Europe, which was really pretty cool. Uncle Edgeworth just isn't big on amusement parks."

Phoenix shrugs. "We've gotten lots of culture over the last few years. And not very many heights. It's been a good trade-off."

"But now we can go on _everything_!" Teleporting to Phoenix's side, Trucy grabs her father's arm and starts marching forward. "Come on, Polly, 'Thena! We're going to start at one end of the park and work our way all the way to the other!"

"We'll need to grab a map!" Athena skips after Trucy, keeping her hand on Apollo's arm and gently guiding him forward as she does. "That way we can mark everything off. And maybe record what rides we like, that might be worth a second go-'round if we have enough time."

They do indeed start at one end of the park, and Apollo finds himself sharing a tea cup with everyone, clinging to the seat in an attempt to keep himself still while Trucy and Athena spin them frantically. He finds himself dodging _everyone else from the office_ in bumper cars, listening to Trucy laugh maniacally as she targets him—though he does have to admit she happily takes any target of opportunity, so it's not _just_ Apollo who spends the whole time trying to stay as far away from Trucy's bright blue car as possible.

The hall of mirrors is next, and Apollo finds himself walking head-first into a remarkably resilient mirror while attempting to follow what he had been ninety-nine percent sure was an _actual_ waving Athena.

Athena greets him once they've both wound their way to freedom, pulling his hand away from where it's busy massaging his forehead. She isn't laughing, not quite, but Apollo can see the suppressed laughter in her eyes, and it doesn't take Widget to hear it in her voice. "I'm sorry, 'Pollo. I didn't think you'd do that."

"It's all right." Apollo shrugs, trying not to blush. "I should've noticed it was a mirror. Someone's been really good about polishing those things. Clearly far too dedicated to their job."

Plus it had been hard to see, almost _painful_ , his too-acute vision trying to focus in on a thousand different details reflected infinitely over and over in the glass. It's something that wouldn't have happened before he met Phoenix—before he knew what he could do, and Trucy taught him how to properly wield his gift. Given what his gift has helped him to accomplish over the last few years, though...

Apollo finds himself looking down at his bracelet, and he sighs. There's really nothing he would trade his gift for. (Nothing but Clay, and Apollo long ago gave up hoping that maybe there was some trade the universe would accept for him to have his friend back.)

Athena hasn't let go of his hands yet, and as Apollo drops his head to look at his bracelet she leans forward, rocking up on her toes to press a kiss to his forehead where he ran into the glass. "There. That should make it all better."

Apollo blinks, stunned. He's still trying to process what just happened when Trucy comes catapulting out of the fun house and lands on his back. Only Athena's body in front of him keeps them both from tumbling to the ground.

"Polly, I think we should mark this one as _do not do again_." The first to disentangle herself from the mess that she made, Trucy takes Apollo's hand in hers, glaring daggers at the mirror maze. "What do you think?"

"I'd be fine with that." Apollo squeezes Trucy's hand, suspecting she had trouble just like he did... and just like him, is loathe to admit it.

"Onward, then!" Trucy doesn't even wait for Phoenix to emerge from the fun house before charging toward the next ride. "To the flying carpets!"

The flying carpets are actually quite relaxing, taking their riders up and down in a gentle pattern. They allow a fairly decent view of the park, but Apollo keeps his eyes closed, much more comfortable not seeing how high up they are. The breeze that the ride creates and the rocking motion is pleasant all on its own.

The next ride they go on is some kind of music-blaring death machine. It's loud when they're waiting in line, and Apollo can see the hesitance in Athena's face, but with Trucy bouncing at her side Athena answers any concern with a victory sign.

Trucy sits next to her father, though she spends the brief waiting period while everyone climbs on turned around to chat with them; Athena sits next to Apollo. Once the ride starts, Apollo finds himself squished tight against the side of the car by the momentum, Athena's body pressed hard against his side.

The music had been loud before; on the ride it is near-deafening, especially when added to the sounds of the ride itself, the creaking and cracking of metal wheels on metal tracks. Trucy is still chattering giddily, trying to pull herself away from her father's side and getting shoved back time and again; Athena...

Widget glows a dark blue, though the color flickers, yellow shining through sometimes, red, a hint of black. The one color that doesn't show is the bright green that has been the default for most of the day.

Allowing himself to relax against the seat, trying to just let himself move with the motion of the car, Apollo twists so that he can get his hands up on either side of Athena's head and places them over her ears.

Athena doesn't try to say anything. She just curls against him, her eyes closing.

Widget's glow softens, though, fading back to a more normal color, and when the ride comes to an end Athena smiles up at him gratefully.

"Are you okay?" Trucy half-clambers into their car, peering at Athena with concern. "I'm sorry, 'Thena. I didn't realize how loud it would be."

"I'm fine." Athena's hand trails across Apollo's, squeezes gently for a moment before she hops out of the car to stand beside Trucy. "Just... maybe nothing with music for a few minutes, okay?"

"That's fine!" Trucy leads the way off the ride, her eyes darting left and right. "I know! How about the roller coaster? The line's right there..."

"Sure." Apollo grins as he looks at the giant wooden-and-steel construction that loops around most of the park. "It's a fun one. Clay and I rode it five or six times when we..." His tongue stumbles, and Apollo realizes he forgot, briefly. It doesn't happen often, now. Just when he's somewhere that he and Clay used to go together but that he doesn't visit often. When it _does_ happen, at least he can handle it better now, drawing a deep breath and plunging onward. "Anyway, it's fun."

Phoenix stares up at it, both his eyebrows rising. "It seems, uh... tall."

"It's not that bad." Apollo shrugs. "I'm not a huge fan of heights, either, but it's fast enough that you don't really notice how high you are until you're already going down the other side."

"Please, Daddy?" Trucy stares up at her father with big, wide eyes. "Or if you're too scared to go, Polly and 'Thena can take me. We'll wave to you."

"I'm not too frightened to go on a roller coaster." Setting his jaw as though he were approaching the courtroom, Phoenix begins marching toward the line.

Everything goes well at first. They stand in line together, Trucy doing little sleight-of-hand tricks, much to the delight of everyone else waiting impatiently. They manage to claim two cars side by side—Trucy and Phoenix in front, Athena and Apollo behind. The bored announcer ensures they know to keep hands and feet in the appropriate areas unless they want to lose them.

The ride starts, and Apollo finds himself grinning, looking forward to the adrenaline rush that comes with being flung hither and thither in a carefully controlled environment. Clay always loved roller coasters, trying to convince Apollo that it was somewhat like being in a space shuttle, though he gave that up once he started his actual flight training.

It hurts less, now. Athena keeps reassuring him that one day it won't hurt at _all_ , thinking of Clay; that one day he won't be _angry_ , every time he considers the injustice. As the car heads for the top of the first hill, Apollo begins to think that maybe she's right.

Then they crest the first hill, moving slower than Apollo had expected, inch forward... and come to a dead stop.

The amusement park is spread out below them, the people like tiny insects, the rides with their flashing lights somewhere between beautiful and gaudy in the bright afternoon sunlight. For five, ten, fifteen seconds everything is relatively quiet, and then people start grumbling behind them.

"What _is_ this?"

"What's going on?"

"Are we _stuck_?"

"You're _kidding_ me, we can't—"

Craning his neck to look forward and back gives Apollo no useful information, but he has to agree with most of the muttering people. They seem to be very, very stuck.

At the top of the hill.

Very, very high up.

He shouldn't think about that. He should _really_ not think about that, and not look out at the view spread out around them, and maybe if he looks at the _sky_ things will be better.

Except if he looks at the sky he starts to wonder what he's missing. Is there a body on the tracks? The coaster wouldn't stop for a body though, right? Not until it had made other bodies, at least, being derailed, and _this is not helping—_

"Apollo?" Athena's hand lands on his, her voice concerned. "Hey, are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" Apollo yells the words louder than he intended, and for a stunned moment everyone in front of and behind them falls silent. "I just... I, uh..."

Athena gives a little half-smile. "You're... not very fond of heights, are you?"

Focusing on Athena is better. If he looks just at Athena—not past her, at the too-close clouds or the too-far horizon—he can breathe a little easier. "No. I'm not very fond of heights. I never have been, really. Just one of those things, you know? One of those silly things like how some girls don't like spiders."

"Some boys, too." Athena nods in understanding. "Phobias are strange, but not rare. And heights is certainly a common one."

"It wasn't _that_ bad until a year and a half or so ago." Apollo's eyes move from Athena's moon earring to Widget, glowing a nice calm bright blue. "I mean, I didn't like climbing up on ladders if I could avoid it, but I managed if I had to. It was... a little more reasonable, you know?"

Athena nods. "I get it. You don't need to be defensive about it. You've seen me have a melt-down before—I'm not going to judge. Though if you wanted to talk about what happened to make it worse... unless that would be bad? I don't want to make things worse."

"It was a case. One of my first cases, actually—when I was the only actual lawyer at the Wright Anything Agency. It was at one of Prosecutor Gavin's concerts—he used to have a band." Apollo frowns, realizing how much Athena doesn't know about what happened before she came to the Agency—how much about their friends she may need to be filled in on. "There was a body, and the killer moved it. Up onto a platform. I ended up on top of a platform with a dead body, and it's not something I want to have happen again."

"No need to worry." Athena takes both his hands in hers. "No dead bodies here. Nothing for you to worry about. Just you and me, and up in front Trucy and Mr. Wright—right, Trucy?"

"Huh?" Trucy's voice comes from down below them. "I'm here, 'Thena! I'm fine! Daddy looks a little under the weather, though."

"Right." Apollo sighs. "Mr. Wright hates heights, too."

"I fell off a _bridge_ , all right?!" Phoenix's voice cracks upward, terror underlying every word. "I fell off a burning bridge into a raging river!"

"But you're fine!" Trucy's voice chirps out the reassurance. "We're _always_ fine, Daddy!"

An unfamiliar voice comes from the car behind Apollo. "You guys have really, really weird lives, don't you?"

Athena and Apollo share a look, and then both start laughing.

Lifting his hands to her lips, Athena kisses first one and then other, smiling the whole time. "I think that's a good synopsis, don't you, Apollo?"

"Definitely not untrue." Apollo smiles back at her, still trying hard not to look down. "Our lives are weird, and we're fine."

Hopefully they'll also be down on the ground soon, but Apollo knows better than to say that out loud. Sometimes it's better not to tempt fate.

XXX

It only takes the attendants fifteen minutes to coax the ride into reverse and bring them carefully back into the station, at which point Phoenix and Apollo beat everyone else back down to the ground.

Trucy and Athena follow a little more slowly, gathering up the free tickets for another day at the park that are being offered to everyone for the inconvenience.

"I hate to put a damper on everyone's fun..." Phoenix is sitting on the ground, his hand planted firmly, as though that could ensure he doesn't ever leave it again. "But how do you guys feel about calling it a day? We can come back later to do everything we haven't so far."

Athena nods. "I'd be all right with that, boss."

"Me, too." Apollo is still standing, but he's quite happy to be standing on firm ground, and going on another ride right now isn't terribly appealing.

"If that's what everyone wants." Trucy nods slowly, her eyes scanning over each of them. "Though I was thinking of ending with a Ferris wheel ride? You guys don't have to come, if you don't want to..."

"Trucy..." Phoenix somehow manages to pale even further. "I love you, and I would die for you in a heartbeat, but—"

Athena takes Trucy's hand in hers. "How about you and I go? 'Pollo and the boss can recover here for a few minutes while we get our ride in, and then we can go have dinner."

A bright grin transfigures Trucy's whole demeanor as she straightens up. "Okay! Thanks, 'Thena."

Apollo waves as the two girls head off. Phoenix raises one hand to wave, flops it once, and then immediately pushes both hands back hard against the ground.

"So." Apollo shoves his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth as he stands next to his still-shaking boss. "Burning bridge? Raging river?"

"It's a long story." Phoenix smiles. "No rock stars involved, though. And no dead bodies."

"The coaster gallery was right." Apollo shakes his head. "Our lives are really weird."

"Weird but not bad. Which is a terrible segue, but..." Phoenix's color is starting to brighten, his skin not quite so ghost-pale as he studies Apollo.

Apollo looks down at his shoes, then out at the people hurrying from ride to ride, then back to his boss, who is still studying him intently. Kicking at the ground doesn't do anything other than raise a little puff of dust, and eventually Apollo sighs. "What is it?"

"Maybe nothing." Phoenix shrugs. "Maybe something. Are you and Athena...?"

"I... uh..." Apollo shrugs. "I don't know."

Phoenix gives a slow nod. "She's a great young woman. Talented, smart, kind..."

Apollo sighs, closing his eyes. He's about to get the shovel talk. From his boss, who played poker for a living for seven years. That's all right. He's glad someone's there to look out for Athena. Everyone needs someone to look out for them, to value them above others.

(The only person who would have done that for him, who would have defended him against hurt as strenuously as possible, is dead. Which isn't a reason for him to begrudge Athena—)

"And you're a pretty great young man." A hand lands on Apollo's shoulder, solid, firm, and Apollo blinks his eyes open to see Phoenix standing beside him, expression grave. "Whatever makes the two of you happy. Though I also want both of you to always remember that no matter what, you've got me and Trucy. Okay?"

"I... okay." Apollo can feel his cheeks flushing red and hot, and he blinks eyes that are surprisingly tear-filled. "Thanks, Mr. Wright."

"No problem." Phoenix pulls his hand back to his side. "Shall we go see if the Ferris wheel collapses?"

"Don't joke about that." Apollo follows his boss toward the center of the park. "With our luck, it just might happen."

"I know." Phoenix's hand claps gently against Apollo's shoulder again. "But we'd still be just _fine_ , right?"

"Always." Apollo finds himself grinning as they come in sight of the Ferris wheel. It doesn't take him long to pick out Trucy and Athena, and as soon as he starts waving Trucy waves back, tugging on Athena's arm and pointing out where he and Phoenix are standing.

The world's not perfect, but come highs and come lows, Apollo and his people are going to be absolutely fine.


End file.
